1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,153 discloses a connector with a housing that has a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers. A one-piece rubber plug is sandwiched between the rear surface of the housing and the front surface of a holder provided behind the housing. A lock projection projects back from the rear surface of the housing, passes through the one-piece rubber plug and engages in a lock hole in the front surface of the holder for holding the holder on the housing. Thus, the one-piece rubber plug can be mounted with the outer peripheral surface thereof exposed.
The lock projection disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,153 is deformed resiliently in a direction crossing a projecting direction thereof in the process of engaging the lock projection and the lock hole. FIGS. 9 to 12 show a structure that would enable a lock projection to engage a lock hole without resiliently deforming the lock projection. As shown in FIG. 9, lock projections 102 project from the rear surface of a housing 100 and pass through a one-piece rubber plug 101, and a locking projection 103 is formed at a projecting end of each lock projection 102 and projects in a direction crossing a projecting direction of the lock projection 102. On the other hand, a holder 104 is formed with lock holes 105. Resilient receiving portions 106 traverse in a direction crossing projecting directions of the lock projections 102 and have opposite ends supported on the inner surfaces of the lock holes 105, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.
The lock projections 102 enter the lock holes 105 in the process of mounting the holder 104 into the housing 100 and the resilient receiving portions 106 deform away from the locking projections 103 due to interference with the locking projections 103, as shown in FIG. 12. The resilient receiving portions 106 resiliently restore when the holder 104 is assembled properly and engage the locking projections 103, as shown in FIG. 11, to lock the holder 104 and the housing 100 in an assembled state.
Links 107 are formed at opposite ends of the resilient receiving portion 106 and join to the inner surface of the lock hole 105. The links 107 deform to a large extent when the resilient receiving portion 106 is deformed as shown in FIG. 12. Thus, stresses are concentrated on the links 107 and improper deformation or breakage, such as a crack, may occur. The reliability of a lock function of the resilient receiving portion 106 and the lock projection 102 is reduced if the links improperly deform or break.
The invention was completed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to provide a connector with excellent locking reliability.